i was catching my fish to put them in a bucket coz i was cleaning my tank and when i was catching my males the bristles and gills got caught in the net.it was relly hard for me to get him out of the net diddnt want to pull to hard.

lots of ways. Cut the top off a 2ltr coke bottle and flip it over making a lobster pot kind of thing if the cheepest and easiest. Thow some food in there and wait.

It wasnt the gills that got cought but rather its defensive spines. they flare them when threatened and they really hurt if they get you! the easiest way to avoid it is to use a fine net and dont handle the net too much if the fish is still wriggling around then they normally will be fine. If the do get caught then tip the net through the other way (so the fish is on the outside) and hang it in the tank so that the fish is just in the water. Eventually it will retract its spines and swim away. If it still is caught then dont pull on the net, it causes damage to the spines and the fish may not be able to retract them. Cut the net so that there is a little square of net still with the fish and pop it back in. in time it will work the net loose. new net os better than killing a lovely bristlenose IMO

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Doug do you study bn, this site really makes me smile sometimes....lol....

Doug is like the big cheese to a under fed mouse... with regard to BN... the gran daddy of the lobster pot...lol

any ways not to under mine Doug who I have alot of repsect for....

Doug and Curby,- and most other fellow BN keepers on this web site actually care about there fish, and I mean really care-with a passion

Yeah many of the people will not own up to how much respect or passion they have, but to get something out of a hobbyor interest you have to invest alot of care, time, love and attention.

The internet is a useful resource and helps greatly now a days, the time as past from when we would have to buy a book and read up on the subject, we now invest in forums and friendships with other fish breeders and aquarists many of which have learnt from past experience and research.

I love helping new startes to fish keeping, fairly new to breeding pleco's myself... but it is amazing how much time and effort canbe saved by sharing your positive thoughts along the way, and some times negative ones.

I do study them in my own time. I am doing my PhD is aquatic ecology which gives me an insight into their world and i do work closely with people who have looked into them in the past but my actual topic for my PhD is the population genetics of 4 aquatic macroinvertebrates. So i have to research them in my own time. I have almost all the literature ever written on them (well the good stuff anyway) and have been keenly observing their behaviour now for well over 10 years. I have spent many hours observing them and comparing what i see to the literature. Only just scratched the surface though.

I also look at their fry, i currently have a data set of over 500 fry but i need many more to be able to tell anything from it.

But all that aside, I'm just glad to help

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Doug's Bristlenose eBook - The number one source of Bristlenose information and the most detailed breeding guide avaliable3rd edition LOADS OF INFORMATION, PICS, DIAGRAMS AND BRISTLENOSE GOODNESS

GO TO www.keepingandbreedingbristlenose.com FOR YOUR COPY!!

Like my book - why not "Like" it on Facebook!http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keeping-and-Breeding-Bristlenose-Catfish/142417842474993Click here to vote for Bristlenose World